At this point in the summer, you might be looking back at your previous courses to begin planning your Fall 2023 courses. Maybe you’re taking advantage of working in the open on the OpenLab and looking at colleagues’ courses as well.
If your course sites are places for student interaction, for discussions and student work submissions, the end of the semester’s energy might show on the top page of your site. Instead, you might add a final post to your courses, so that any members of or visitors to the site first see a post that acknowledges the class’s accomplishments in the semester, congratulates students for their achievements, or maybe also encourages students to stay in touch with you and each other. Here’s the Thank You post that I added to my Spring ENG 1121 course, and the Congratulations post from Jenna Spevack’s COMD 3504
Even if you haven’t done this already and last semester feels too long ago, it’s not too late! A final post can be a positive note for students getting ready to start new classes in a few weeks. And for colleagues browsing courses on the OpenLab, these final posts can be an excellent reminder of all that we–faculty and students–achieve in a semester. And then it will be part of your practice for the end of Fall 2023–and already waiting for you at the end of next semester if you clone your Spring 2023 course.
Happy planning!
